Bidwell Mansion: Funding, progress, plans discussed at annual meeting

Patrick Bulmer, middle right, speaks to board and community members along side Lucy Sperlin,right, Susan Hearne,middle left and Nancy Overton, left at the Bidwell Mansion Community Project meeting Wednesday.

Chico >> Bidwell Mansion State Historic Park is progressively becoming more financially sustainable, but the Bidwell Mansion Community Project wants more concrete answers as to where the community's funds are going.

"We would like input on where the $50,000 and where the matching $50,000 has been spent in the means of specific programs," said Susan Hearne, board member and adviser on state parks relations for the project. Hearne referenced funds donated a year ago by the community through the group that helped save the park from closure. She added the group would like to see numbers regarding additional programs and updates on the status of funding provided for phase one of website improvements.

The Bidwell Mansion Community Project and the community met and discussed the mansion's financial state and master plan in the group's annual public meeting Wednesday night. Four of the nine Bidwell Mansion Community Project board members were present as some could not attend.

The agenda addressed the Bidwell Mansion Community Project financial report, an update on the park Master Plan and a look into the 2014-2015 fiscal year for the Bidwell Mansion Community Project. Lucy Sperlin, board member and curation adviser for the project, reported that the group is still holding, in the North Valley Community Foundation, $99,605 of the funds raised by the community.

Raeann Bossarte, an interpreter for the Bidwell Mansion State Historic Park, followed Sperlin's report and spoke about the Bidwell Mansion State Historic Park Interpretation Master Plan. The plan has been in the works for a year, was spent on various drafts after community surveys and research concerning the needs of the park for the public. She said after information from various sectors was gathered, the plan revealed wants to improve structures such as park activities, consistency with interpretation, more programs and better relationships with surrounding organizations and the community.

The plan is now being reviewed by California State Park headquarters with the hopes of being finalized in July.

"What the plan does is lead you to action," Bossarte said. "It just doesn't sit on a shelf. You're supposed to end up with something that you can do with it and it actually filters into what we call an action plan after that."

Before the meeting, Bossarte distributed funding requests for the Bidwell Mansion Community Project which outlined the park's objectives and goals in the master plan. For example, goal 1 is to "increase interaction with visitors throughout the park grounds," which is stated in the document to have already started with park staff and volunteers already working interpretation into daily routine. The financial information attached to this objective included: fund park interpretive specialist 15 hours a month of roving interpretation with $16.69 an hour resulting in $3,004.20 a year.

Also, the park announced that the mansion will be open 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Fridays July 11 to Sept. 15. Funding for this included two park interpretive specialists, which amounts to $12,817.92 a year. "Summer hours/days have been increased through September. Funding is needed to keep the mansion open on Fridays," the document states.

Hearne said she hopes to see the finalized Master Plan so the project has an understanding of where the funds have gone and what needs have been met. After the meeting, she said the Bidwell Mansion Community Project offers a "project-based accountability" to check in with the state parks to see where funding goes and what progress is made.

In the past, she said state parks were not accustomed to organizations checking in with funding, but they are now building that relationship. Sterlin said "the relationship (with state parks) is evolving and its coming along ... its our responsibility to the community." During the meeting, Sterlin said the idea is to honor the money that the community gave.